Ever since Daniel
started doing the comics column I've been after him to add more Sciffy
Content to it. I remember lots of SF comics from way back when...Magnus
the Robot Fighter, Lost In Space (no really, it was a comic before it
was a TV series. What? You didn't know it was a TV series before it was
a movie? Anyway, this month Daniel gets even with a radioactive bunch of
titles he's sure will satisfy my SF Habit. - Thanks DD. - Editor Ern

This
Month:SCIENCE FICTIONandCOMIC BOOKS!

Before I get to the main topic...In the process of reading some of
the Usenet comic-related newsgroups
(e.g., rec.arts.comics.dc.universe, rec.arts.comics.dc.vertigo and
rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe), I've come across some good
comic-related sites worth mentioning:

For Supergirl fans, people curious what the heck's up, or who want
an industrial-strength tour down Supergirl memory lane, check out Earth Angel: The Legend of
Supergirl.
For more (and probably more informed) comics advice, see
Johanna Draper Carlson
Reviews of Comics Worth Reading.
For an interesting look at the kind of online previews of
paper comic books now available, see
First Looks.
And for possibly far too much news about comic books and the
comic book scene, see Newsarama.

Some Actual
Science Fiction Comics (Finally, Sez Ernest, No Doubt...)

SFRevu.com being a Science Fiction fanzine, as Ernest reminds me periodically,
it behooves me to mention more Science Fictiony comics (as he also reminds me),
or at least be more explicit about how the comics I'm talking about anyway
are (or could be justified as) Science Fiction. So, starting with this
column, I'll include at least one or two inarguably, or at least harder to
dispute, SF-type comics, probably one current and one old.
First, a paragraph or two of the quasi-obligatory "what (the heck) is
Science Fiction, or what makes a comic book 'Science Fiction'?" discussion.

In principle, all the "superhero" (guys'n'gals with strange powers, not
to mention usually even stranger duds and unlikely anatomies) comics qualify, e.g.
Superman, Spider-Man, Green Lantern, Fantastic Four, the Flash, Tom Strong,
Justice League, Avengers, Doom Patrol,
and so on, because, well, they couldn't (easily) happen in our real world,
so they require some of that old industrial-strength Willing Suspension of
Disbelief ($5.95/pint, $35/gallon).

One might separate out the costumed
(or uncostumed) heroes that do not have extraordinary powers (or overly
marvellous toys), e.g., for the most part, Batman, Green Arrow, maybe Daredevil,
and so on.
However, for the most part, I wouldn't lump any of these into the "SF" category,
exceptions being the ones in the future, e.g., Legion of Super-Heroes, Tommy
Tomorrow, and some of the more science-fictionary settings and story arcs, like
Walt Simenson's Fantastic Four space-time multiverse issues.
My gut feel -- opinion, if you prefer -- is that "true" SF comics (ignoring
comic adaptations of existing SF stories) are identifiable by some
"I know it when I see/read it" mix of theme, setting, trappings, approach,
and/or attitude. I'd put Alan Moore's TOP TEN straddling the fence here.
Ditto, often, his TOM STRONG. Howard Chaykin's brief-lived IRONWOLF from
a bunch of years back was pretty hard to argue with; ditto his more recent
AMERICAN FLAGG!

Rockets and robots help, in other words, but a lot of it's in the eyes of the
reader.

Sonic Disruptors - Take SONIC DISRUPTORS, for example. This was a DC Comics mini-series
back in the late 1980's, very John Brunner-ish -- rock'n'roll rebels
in space, versus the establishment. Written by Mike Baron, with art by
Barry Crain & John Nyberg, this puppy was slated for twelve issues but
only made it to seven -- leaving many unhappy readers, of course.
I recall enjoying it a lot, or certainly enough, but the few Google hits
I could find for this that weren't issues-for-sale listings (cheap, too --
a buck each or less, as a rule) were
lukewarm at best, or more often than not much more deprecatory.
No accounting for taste, I guess. But it sure was sci-fi, IMHO.
(Oddly, I could find no pages or site devoted to this title, not even
a paragraph or two of reasonable background. Go figure.)
Other older SF-ish comics that come to mind include
THE HACKER FILES, by Lew Shiner, and CYBERELLA (Howard Chaykin again).
I'll talk about these in coming months. Peter David's Tailgunner Jo
also comes to mind (having run across a mention while googling for something
else.)
In terms of current SF comic titles, probably TRANSMETROPOLITAN qualifies,
but I need to go back and read a few to be sure.

Y
- The Last Man - Meanwhile, DC's got
Y - THE LAST MAN. According to
DC's Y Mini-Site (a good idea, they should do this more often)
"In the summer of 2002, a plague of unknown origin destroys
every last sperm, fetus, and fully developed mammal with a Y
chromosome - with the exception of amateur escape artist Yorick
Brown and his surly male helper monkey Ampersand."
Shades of Philip Wylie's mainstream-SF novel (i.e., it's SF, but reads
like mainstream), THE DISAPPEARANCE.
See some of Issue# 1 in the
preview.
and for more info. Y's up to issue four as of October. This is where I came in,
having decided that while it sounded good, there's a limit to how many
comics I'm willing to buy. DC already did a combo reprint of Issues 1
and 2 ($5.95, no bargain -- same price as getting the original issues,
but you can't do that any more, so at least you can get and read what
you've missed -- this is where being a reader is easier than being a
collector). I thought I read that DC is doing a issues 1-3 reprint, for
$2.95, but my comic store doesn't confirm that, so use your judgement re
the 1-2 reprint. Recommended.

Forever
Maelstrom - Here's an upcoming SF six-issue minies worth
watching for (due late November, I think) -- Forever Maelstrom, written by Howard Chaykin and David Tischman; art by
John Lucas and Eduardo Barreto.
Descriptions I've read include "Indiana Jones/Doc Savage does time travel."
DC's own site sez:
A time-jumping ladies' man is reality's only hope in
an outlandish miniseries from the creators of AMERICAN CENTURY! His
name is Forever Maelstrom. His expertise in world history — honed by traveling through centuries to befriend the world's most historic figures
— may be all that stands between order and anarchy when an evil madman
derails time itself! With alternate timelines running roughshod over each
other, only Forever and a motley crew of miSFits can gather the devices
necessary to restoring the world he once knew. But time, as ever, is fleeting...
And here's DC's
Sneak Peek.
This is a mainstream DC comic, so it'll be comparatively tame by Chaykin standards.
But definitely SF.
And I'm sure there are other comics that fall within the Science Fiction
category/genre. (What's your favorite?)